since as far back as i can remember, our cultural model of binary gender has seemed like a strange umbrella with several holes in it that leaves whole continents of my soul exposed to the rain.
it’s like wearing a scratchy and unflattering sweatshirt that’s two sizes too small; i’ve always felt uncomfortable with the concept of maleness with which i was levied at birth, because it’s never seemed to fit, radically limiting my range of movement.
i’m proud to say that from a young age, i started bucking that cultural straitjacket without even knowing why. and i’m even prouder to say that i started bucking it consciously as soon as i began to understand just how many of the invisible barriers by which we abide are make-believe.
sadly, however, my lack of acquiescence to those arbitrary behavioral limitations has wrought a not-insignificant amount of turmoil throughout my life.